The Armchair Princess
by Cartel
Summary: "Hi," he said, kneeling down so that there was less of a height difference. "I'll be looking after you tonight. My name is Scorpius." / One-shot, SM/RW, utter fluff.


**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter is the property of J.K. Rowling. I am in no way affiliated with her. This is not a profitable work. No copyright infringement is intended. Thank you :)

**Prompt:** "_An invitation and identical twins_."

**- o -**

**The Armchair Princess**

"Scorpius, you're sure you don't want to come, right?"

"Mother, I wasn't invited." He turned the card over in his hand. Sure enough, it was addressed in golden ink to "Mr. Malfoy & Mrs. Astoria Greengrass." There was mention of "and kin" after an option at the bottom to pick a certain meal of the three, but he assumed this was for people who couldn't leave their children at home. As a completely responsible sixteen year old who only had two detentions each week on average, he did not qualify for that category.

"Alright, that's great, then. I just got an owl from Rolf."

"Scamander?" Scorpius couldn't place the name, but for some reason it came to mind.  
"Yes, same publisher. A bit _free-spirited_, shall we say, but a very nice man. I owe him a favour, too, he was the only one in the office to look over my last article before I sent it in."

Scorpius nodded and replied flatly, "Sounds like a great help."

"Oh, he was. That's why this is perfect, since you have nothing else to do tonight."

"I have Arithmancy."

"Well, now it will have to wait."

**- o - **

Scorpius was surprised at how little the children looked like their father. When _Mr_. _Scamander_ had met him at the door, he had looked distinctly French. Warm eyes, handsome jaw, prominent nose, a light tan, and hair like waves of chocolate. He supposed little Lorcan and Lysander had his brown eyes, but their skin was pale and their noses had a cute, almost Polish look to them. Their hair was pale blond-not as pale as his, of course, but nearing it.

"Hi," he said, kneeling down so that there was less of a height difference. "I'll be looking after you tonight. My name is Scorpius."

Lorcan-he was the one in the red overalls, right?-put a hand on his hip and shifted his weight. "We already have a sitter. Mummy got us one. You can go away."

Scorpius chuckled. "I just spoke to your Papa. Maybe Mummy didn't realize I would be coming."

"Apparently not." The answer didn't come from either of the little blond boys. Instinctively, Scorpius bolted upright and withdrew his wand. He quickly lowered it, though not entirely, when he saw who had spoken.

Stepping out from the next room was a slightly cross, slightly amused looking Rose Weasley. She was wearing a massive knit blue sweater that fell down to her tight-covered knees, and her red hair was in a sloppy side-braid. Scorpius frowned at the thought put into her outfit.

"Rose Weasley?"

"Scorpius Malfoy."

The two nearly-identical boys looked from one teenager to the other, unsure who was really the authority appointed by Mummy and Papa. There was a silence until it was interrupted by the outnumbered redhead in a room of blonds.

"Looks like Mummy and Papa made a mistake. No we have two sitters, isn't that great?" There were eager nods of agreement from two out of three blonds. Scorpius grimaced.

**- o -**

"How come I have to be the princess? I want to be one of the wizards." Scorpius rolled his eyes. It was so like Rose to try to turn a game of pretend into a gender studies class. He was about to explain that the kids ought to decide what everyone was, when Lysander spoke in his soft, airy voice.

"I'll be the princess, then. I'm pretty, too. It's like a dress, see?" the small boy tugged at the ends of his shirt, stretching it with pale hands so that it sat just past his waist. Scorpius glared at Rose, who looked triumphant.

"You can be the prince, if you'd prefer," she added hastily, "You can be whatever you want."

"I want to be the princess, I think. I have the dress for it." Lysander smiled dreamily and took a seat on the large leather armchair in the corner, turning it into a throne.

"If we can be anything we want, I want to be a dragon," Scorpius announced, smirking at Rose.

"Yeah! I'll be your hapsnil!" Lorcan cried enthusiastically, beaming at Scorpius with outreached hands.

"Do I pick you up?" Scorpius looked pleadingly from Lorcan to Rose, who rolled her eyes.

"Yeah! I ride you. Hapsnils are the lizards that blend into things and ride on dragons. They keep the dragon's scales clean and prevent him scurvy."

"They prevent scurvy?" Rose and Scorpius questioned almost in unison as the older blond lifted the smaller one onto his back.

"Scurvy is a grown-up word for being sick," Lysander explained dreamily from the throne.

"You're very wise, Princess," Scorpius complemented solemnly before beginning his campaign of bouncing up and down and making wing-noises.

Rose decided to be the royal guard and was ordered to chase the dragon until it got tired and the hapsnil could be captured for research and discovery.

**- o -**

"Again, I am so sorry about the confusion. I didn't realize Luna had sent the other owl."

"It's really alright, Mr. Scamander," Rose insisted, playing with a strand of hair that had escaped her braid.

"It looks like you two did an excellent job anyway," his wife said, smiling. "Nothing is even burned and all of the furniture is in the same place. It's like a dream."

Rose and Scorpius exchanged nervous glances before realizing they were in agreement and promptly turning away.

**- o - **

Scorpius stared with channeled intensity at the treacle tart in the plate before him, prodding it occasionally with his fork.

"You didn't answer me, Scorpius."

He looked up to see his father at the end of the table.

"Yes, I watch people's children with Weasley."

"And give tutoring, don't you dear?" his mother prompted, adjusting her complicated hair twist.

Scorpius directed his answer at his father. "Yes. And we tutor younger students, occasionally during the year."

His father wore a pained expression and ran a hand through his receding silver hair. "And the girl's family, do they know?"

Scorpius shrugged. "None of her cousins seem to take issue with the tutoring."

His mother, having finished her own tart, stood up, taking the empty plate with her. "You two are absolutely silly. Just come out and say it, won't you? This isn't about the tutoring or sitting, it's the dating." With a huff, she disappeared to the kitchen, a house elf in an official Malfoy Corporation silk dishtowel following cheerfully behind her.

Scorpius waited until his mother was well out of the room to address the silent question. "No, father, they don't care that she's dating a Malfoy."  
Scorpius could've sworn he heard his father mutter something like "_my own son_" as he ran his hand through his hair again before he answered, entirely audible, "So be it."

**- x - **


End file.
